Tools

Writing & Formatting

SCRIVENER

Scrivener, from Literature and Latte, has a steep learning curve, but the available power of the tool is well worth the effort to learn it. I especially appreciate the ease with which you can rearrange chapters, color code chapters, and track word count progress. Click here to learn more.

VELLUM

Vellum’s tagline is “Create beautiful books,” and to that I would add “with ridiculous ease.” Vellum’s price tag is high, but it is well worth the time it would take you to fuss through print and ebook formatting yourself, and will quickly earn back the money you might spend on a formatting professional to do it for you. Make the investment, you won’t regret it. I like Vellum so much, I am an affiliate! ​Click here to learn more.

Publishing

KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING (KDP)

Amazon’s ebook and print book arm; the must-go-to platform for any indy author. For print books, KDP offers print-on-demand, so there’s no need for anyone to warehouse copies of the book—they are printed as they are ordered. Click here to learn more.

DRAFT2DIGITAL​Use this service to get to many other ebook platforms, such as Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and others. (You can use it to publish to Amazon as well, but the KDP platform is quite easy to use and it’s worth it to go direct to Amazon using KDP to save the cut D2D would otherwise take.) I like D2D so much, I'm an affiliate! Click here to learn more.

INGRAMSPARK​Provides distribution to bookstores (who not order from Amazon). ​Click here to learn more.

ACX​Amazon’s audiobook creation arm; acts as a matchmaker between authors / publishers and narrators / producers. One of the most appealing aspects of ACX is that it’s possible to create an audiobook with no up-front investment if you find a narrator who is willing to entertain a royalty share option. (Or you can spent big bucks to hire a well-known narrator, which buys you an automatic lister base of people who follow that narrator.) Click here to learn more.

Graphics & Design

UNSPLASH​This is a great resource for beautiful—and free—images for your promotional material or social media. It’s recommended to credit the contributor, and I highly recommend doing that (for example, putting a credit on the copyright page of your book if you use the image for a book cover). It’s extraordinarily generous for these artists to make this lovely images available for free, and crediting is the least we can do to support them. Click here to learn more.

CANVA​An easy-t0-use design tool that enables you to create professional-looking graphics for social media, presentations, even e-book covers. The free version gives you everything you need. Click here to learn more.

JUAN PADRON​If you write in the thriller, suspense, paranormal, sci-fi, or horror genres, I can’t recommend Juan’s book cover design services highly enough. He designed the covers of Rock Paper Scissors, Snakes and Ladders, and The Iron Ring​, which I love, and he is extremely easy to work with. Click here to learn more.

LANCE BUCKLEY​Lance designed the cover for Taking the Short Tack: Creating Income and Connecting with Readers Using Short Fiction. Click here to learn more.

99DESIGNS​Another fantastic design resource is 99designs—I got the logos for William Kingsfield Publishers and The Indy Author™ through their services. Design professionals enter a contest for your business, so if you manage the contest correctly, you can get a lot of great options to choose from. I like 99designs so much that I am affiliate! Click here to learn more.

DIY BOOK DESIGN FREE BOOK MOCKUP MAKER

Enables you to create sharp-looking 3D book mockups to use for social media or promotions. Note that if you want to create a mockup of a print book, it's best to get a separate spine image from your book cover designer to ensure all the elements of the spine and front cover align correctly. Click here to learn more.

Business

QUICKBOOKS​QuickBooks enabled me to identify a $400 mischarge from a vendor, and makes it easy for me to stay on top of income and expenses on a day-to-day basis via an easy-to-use dashboard. I love QuickBooks so much, I am an affiliate!